Press for plastic materials



July 2, 1935. b E. c. CLEMENS Y 2,007,074

' PRESS FOR PLASTIC MATERIALS Filed Sept. 27, 1952 28 H/P i"'i45 22. 41 lo 45 3 27 za i8 F/ zo v Ina/622302 Eallfl'nens enema July 2, 1935 2,007,074

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PRESS FOR PLASTIC MATERIALS Eugene O. Clemens, Cannelton, Ind., assignor to The Bonnot Company, Canton, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio Application September 27, 1932, Serial No. 635,075

Claims. (01. 25-15) This invention relates to presses and more par- Supported on the horizontal members I3 is an ticularly to a press adapted for use in the making expressing chamber l4, this expressing chamber of clay pipe or other ceramic articles. carrying the usual forming die I2 at its lower end. An object of this invention is to provide a press A charging cylinder I5 is supported from the 5 for compressing the clay in plastic form so that upper horizontal bar II and extends downwardly when the clay is molded, the article will not have therefrom and is disposed in axial alinement with bubbles of air or gas trapped therein. the lower or expressin cylinder An A further object is to provide a press in which evac er, designated I6, s interposed a charging cylinder and a die-carrying combetween the lower and upper cylinders l4 and pressing cylinder are disposed in axial alinernent 5, re p ctively, and this air eva a in h m 10 with an exh t, h b i t t th t l6 comprises a pair of substantially frustro-conicylinders or chambers and provide a piston rod 051101 tapering members 11 and 8- carrying two pistons, one operating withi th The frustro-conical member I! has the reduced charging cylinder and the other within the comor ap p t t f s u d a y lts l9 t pressing cylinder, and provide a motor for rethe flanged upp d po on of the cylinder ciprocating said piston rod so that as the piston and the base enlarged Portion of the ust w d moves i one i ti t m within t conical member I! is secured as by bolts to the charging cylinder will be forced int t flanged base portion of the upper frustro-conical haust chamber while the clay within the commember 20 pressing chamber is being simultaneously forced Interposed between t e apex or reduced por- 20 t m t tion of the upper frustro-conical member l8 and A further object of t invention is to provide the lower end of the cylinder [5 is a grid, genera machine or press of t kind which is 50 ally designated 2|, which issecured to the flanged structed that it can-readily and easily be taken lower end Portion of the cylinder by b ts apart for cleaning purposes or the like, and which 22 and to the flanged upper end P 191011 of the D- 25 is constructed to periodically force a predeter- Per frustrq-conical member by means of bolts mined quantity of material through the machine 23 and t t forming dies or molds which may be This grid includes a central collar 24 having f any desired configuration radial arms 25 and an outer annular portion. The above and various other objects and advanto extend Spaces between the 30 tages of this invention will in part be described pans of arms 25 is a gnd Screen AS the and in part be understood f the follo in plastic material or moistened clay isforced downdetailed description or the present preferred emwardly through the upper cylinder by means bodiment, the Same being illustrated in the of the plunger 3!, the clay is broken up into ribaccompanying drawing, wherein; bons or strings by being forced through the 35 Figure 1 is a Vertical section partly broken screen. A sleeve 21 is secured to the lower suraway and partly in detail of a device constructed face of the grid member 2!, and is disposed about according to the preferred embodiment of this the collar 24, and this sleeve 21 extends downinvention wardly into the interior of the air evacuating 40 Figure 2 is a top plan view of the grid used for Fhamber F Purpose for M11911 Wm be here 40 breaking the plastic materiaL mafter described. A hopper 28 is carried by the Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view showing upper portlon 9 the upper.cy1mder and is the rotatable breaking member disposed within adapted to receivethe material which is fed into the evacuating chamber to break up the plastic the upper or chargmg cyhnder material after it has passed through the grid In order to force the plastic material into the 45 shown in Figure 2. cylinder l4 and through the die, I have provided Figure 4 is a detail top plan View of the break a lower plunger or piston 2 9, which is secured to mg member detached from the press. a piston rod 30 extending axially through the Referring to the drawing wherein lik h cylinders l4 and I5. -This lower plunger 29 fits 5o acters of reference designate corresponding parts closely within the cylinder '4 SO as to force the throughout the several views, the letter F desigmateriel downwardly therethrough a d through nates generally a supporting frame structure h di II An pp r plunger p n 3| iS' which is provided with vertical supporting memsecured to the piston rod 30 in order to force hers I, upper horizontal members II and lower the material downwardly through the a n horizontal members l3. cylinder II.

A power cylinder 32 is supported as by supports 33 above the charging cylinder l5, and this power cylinder 32 has a piston 34 slidable therein which is secured to the piston rod 30. Pipe connections 35 and 36 are adapted to be connected to a source of power supply such as steam, air or the like so that the piston 34 may be reciprocated within the cylinder 32.

A packing gland 31 surrounds the shaft 30 and is supported by the lower portion of the collar 24 to prevent the passage of air through this collar 24 during the operation of the mechanism.

A collar or annulus 38 is carried by the packing gland 31, and this collar has a groove 39 therein within which is disposed a cutting member in the form of a wheel having a hub 40 positioned within the groove 39 and spokes or knives 4| extending radially therefrom and in a position beneath the sleeve 21 and in the path of the material passing downwardly within this sleeve 21. A gear ring 42 is secured to the outer ends of the knives 4i, and a pinion 43 carried by a drive shaft 44 engages this gear ring so as to efiectrotation of the breaking member. This breaking member including the hub 40 and the knives 4| rotates continuously. The drive shaft 44 is adapted to be connected to a power means of suitable character (not shown).

A pair of pipes 45 communicate at one end with the air evacuating chamber [6 at points outside of the depending sleeve 21, and these pipes 45 are connected to a suitable air exhausting means (not shown) so that the air within the evacuating chamber I6 can be constantly withdrawn. By mounting the pipes 45 in a position outward of the sleeve 21, the material which has been proken up by the grid 2| and by the rotating breaking member 46, will not be sucked out of this evacuating chamber I6, nor will any of the broken material clog the inner open ends of the pipes 45, but as the clay is broken up into small pieces by the action of the breaking member 46 on the strings of clay forced through the grid, the entrapped air will be exhausted from the clay and carried off.

In the use of this mechanism, the moistened clay or other ceramic material which is in plastic condition is discharged into the hopper 28 from which point it passes into the cylinder i5 while the plunger 3| is raised. The piston 34 is then operated to move the rod 30 downwardly, to cause the upper plunger 1 to force plastic material downward through the grid 2i and into the evacuating chamber it. It will, of course, be understood that the upper end of the collar 24 acts as a stop for the piston 3| and that thus a quantity of material will at all times remain on the top of the grid 2|, and act as a seal to prevent the entrance of air into the evacuating chamber l6 through the cylinder l5. The material after being broken into small pieces drops downward through the evacuating chamber l6, and falls into the lower expressing cylinder l4 and the downward movement of plunger 29 forces this material downwardly through the die l2 by which the material will be formed into the desired article such as a pipe or other article.

In actual practice, after the first batch of material has been forced through the grid 2!, the piston 34 is moved upwardly, and a second batch of material is placed in the hopper 28, so that there will be no lost motion and so that upon each downward stroke of the piston 34, material will be forced into the die members. The material passing through the grid 2i will be broken up into the desired ribbons which may be either squared,

round or any other desired configuration. The screen 26 may be either formed as a separate means between the arms 25 or may be integral with the arms, as may be desired.

While the piston 34 operates periodically, the horizontally rotating cutting member 48 rotates continuously. This will break up the strings of clay passing through the grid 2|, so that there will be no trapped air or pockets within the clay which entrapped air, in the event the material is baked or otherwise hardened, will have a tendency to not only weaken the material but also to form flaws which reduce the commercial value of the finished article.

After one or two strokes of the piston rod 30 there will at all times be a seal of material in the die I2, and a seal of material over the grid 2 I, so that these seals of plastic material will prevent the entrance of air from below or from above, and thereby permit the substantial evacuation of air from the evacuating chamber is and in the material disposed within this evacuating chamber.

The grid 2| is provided with a tapering inner wall portion 41 so that the material discharging from the cylinder IE will be initially compressed to a slight degree before being broken up into ribbons or bars by the grid member 2i. By constructing the evacuating chamber 16 larger in diameter than the lower cylinder I when the lower piston is raised, any material resting on top thereof will slide off of the piston 29 within the chamber I6 and fall downwardly into the compressing cylinder M.

It is, of course, understood that various changes and modifications may be made in the details of construction and design of the above specifically described embodiment of this invention without departing from the spirit thereof, such changes and modifications being restricted only by the scope of the following claims.

What is claimed is:-

l. A machine for forming clay pipe including a clay receiving chamber open at its upper end, an expressing chamber having a die at its lower end, an exhausting chamber larger in diameter than the receiving and expressing chambers and disposed between and connected to these chambers, the exhaust chamber being connected to air exhaust means, the lower end of the expressing chamber having a die, and a piston rod reciprocable through these chambers and carrying two plungers, one for operation in the receiving chamber and the other in the expressing chamber, the plungers being so spaced apart that when one plunger clears the intake end of the receiving cylinder the other plunger will clear the intake end of the expressing chamber.

2. A machine for forming clay pipe including a clay receiving cylinder, a clay expressing cylinder having a die at its lower end and disposed in substantial alinement with the receiving cylinder, an exhaust chamber disposed between the two cylinders and larger in diameter than the two cylinders and connected to the cylinders, the exhaust chamber being connected with air exhausting means, means disposed at the discharge end of the receiving cylinder and at the inlet end of the exhaust chamber for breaking up the clay forced through the receiving cylinder into small particles, a piston rod extending through the receiving cylinder and adapted to be reciprocated into the expressing cylinder, plungers mounted upon said rod, one for the receiving cylinder and one for the expressing cylinder, and power operated means for reciprocating said rod.

3. A machine for forming clay pipe including a clay receiving cylinder, a clay expressing cylinder having a die at its lower end and disposed in substantial alinement with the receiving cylinder, an exhaust chamber disposed between the two cylinders and larger in diameter than the two cylinders and connected to the cylinders, the exhaust chamber being connected with air exhausting means, means disposed at the junction of the discharge end of the receiving cylinder and the inlet end of the exhaust chamber for breaking up the clay forced through the receiving cylinder into small particles, a piston rod extending through the receiving cylinder and adapted to be reciprocated into the expressing cylinder, plungers mounted upon said rod, one for the receiving 7 7 cylinder and one for the expressing cylinder, a

an exhaust chamber larger in diameter than the receiving and expressing chambers and connected to and disposed between these chambers,

the exhaust chamber being connected to air exhaust means, and a piston rod vertically reciprocable through these chambers and carrying two plungers, one for operation in the receiving chamber and the other in the expressing chamber, the plungers being so placed'apart that when one plunger clears the intake end of the receiving cylinder the other end will clear the intake end of the expressing chamber, and means disposed above the receiving chamber for reciprocating said piston rod. 7

5. A machine for forming clay pipe and the like including a receiving cylinder and an expressing cylinder supported in substantial z ertlcal alinement with each other, an evacuating chamber between the two cylinders and larger than the expressing cylinder, means for connecting the evacuating chamber with an evacuating means to withdraw air from the chamber, a piston for each cylinder, means connecting both pistons for simultaneous movement, and means for reciprocating both pistons, said means giving a stroke to the piston sufiicient to carry the piston of the expressing cylinder'up into the evacuating chamber on each upward stroke of the pistons whereby to permit material within the evacuating chamber to flow downward around the piston of the expressing cylinder and into the expressing cylinder, and means interposed between the receiving cylinder and the expressing cylinder to break up the material passing through the evacuating chamber.

EUGENE C. CLEMENS. 

